dentists

The Rhode Island Oral Health Foundation staged its second annual free dental clinic over the weekend at the Community College of Rhode Island in Lincoln. About 900 people without dental health insurance got the help they needed.

The line for the free dental clinic started forming at eight o’clock Friday morning – a full 22 hours before it opened. Dr. Jeffrey Dodge, president of the Rhode Island Oral Health Foundation, said the first person in line was a young man who needed four front teeth replaced.

The Rhode Island Dental Association has filed suit in Superior Court against the Rhode Island Department of Health and the Board of Examiners in Dentistry. The suit alleges the state is abusing its power to regulate the dental profession.

The dentists’ group claims that state investigators illegally raided some dentists’ offices, interrupting one surgery in progress. The complaint also alleges that the state’s Board of Examiners in Dentistry failed to give dentists a clear set of regulations for handling anesthesia, controlling infection, and other practices.